“If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?”
RuPaul, the four-time winner of Best Reality Host at the Emmys, has always been known for his inspirational quotes like the one above.
After all, it’s his sage advice and opinion that over 100 queens have sought out while competing on his program, RuPaul’s Drag Race.
As the iconic drag queen rings in his 59th birthday today, we rounded up some of his greatest quotes on loving yourself, pushing forward and realizing you are a star.
RuPaul may have risen to international fame, dominating the New York club scene as Starrbooty and releasing albums that included lyrics that make people want to take over the world, but it wasn’t an easy road.
The star had hit some roadblocks along the way, like at one point returning home when he didn’t break out as he planned during his first go-around in New York.
However, as we’ve all seen, he was able to overcome setbacks to become one of our favorite voices in entertainment. The ability to overcome failures is also what makes his quotes all the more empowering.
Check out the gospel of Ru below to kick off your morning ready to be your best self.
Can we get an amen?
VH1
Self-Love First
Any fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race knows the following iconic quote, but even if you haven’t been watching the Emmy-winning program, you’ve no doubt heard it too: “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?”
Can we get an amen?
VH1
Positivity Wins Out
“Negativity is basically laziness,” RuPaul once shared. “It takes a lot of hard work to remain positive, but positivity always pays off.”
Logo
Make An Impression
“You may not get the role you auditioned for, but make a lasting impression and they’ll remember you for something else later,” RuPaul once advised on Twitter.
Ru would know that himself, having some early failures while he was trying to break into the New York scene. However, his friends encouraged him to return to claim the star power he was born to command.
VH1
Keep Going
“When the going gets tough, the tough reinvent,” RuPaul expressed in his book Workin’ It! Rupaul’s Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style.
Phil McCarten/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images
Life Is a Drag!
After taking home a fourth straight Emmy for Best Reality Host in 2019, RuPaul addressed a reporter backstage who asked about drag’s importance now versus ten years ago.
“Drag is dangerous. Drag is not politically correct,” RuPaul started. “I know people say, ‘Oh, you mainstreamed it,’ drag will never be mainstream….the deeper level of drag is all about you’re born naked, and the rest is drag. And that’s very political, it’s very punk rock. It’s very radical.”
“You are the extension of the power that created the whole universe,” he continued. “We are all God in drag.
VH1
Love Is a Gift
During the same Emmy’s backstage press conference, Ru had a message on the best gift you can give and receive.
“Give love to somebody today. Allow yourself to be loved. That is your gift to the world.”
VH1
Fly High
Ru’s message to go for it was clear in his song “Sissy That Walk” with the lyrics, “And if I fly, or if I fall / Least I can say I gave it all.”
Matt Baron/Shutterstock
Ignore Haters
Also from “Sissy That Walk,” Ru points out, “People talking since the beginning of time / Unless they paying your bills /Pay them b*tches no mind.”
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Break It Down
While usually Ru preaches taking the high road, you don’t have to put up with BS, either!
“My goal is to always come from a place of love, but sometimes you just have to break it down for a motherf%ker,” the reality host proclaimed on Twitter.
Dan Steinberg/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images
They’ll Catch Up
During season four’s “Float Your Boat” episode from RuPaul‘s drag race, contestant William revealed the Ru quote that affected him the most.
Via the AV Club, the contestant expressed, “”In your book, you had a quote that said, ‘Even when I was down, I treated myself as a star, and eventually, the rest of the world would catch up.’ And I wrote that in my little binder. In 8th grade, I adopted that, too. I treated myself as a star and just knew it was going to happen.”
You can also adopt that advice to remember to treat yourself how you want, regardless of what the rest of the world is doing.
VH1
You’re A Star
RuPaul made it clear to be your unique self when he tweeted, “Stop trying to fit in when you were born to stand out.”
Watch Live From the Red Carpet: The 2019 People’s Choice Awards special this Sunday night at midnight. followed by the People’s Choice Awards at 2 a.m., only on E!
